Ideas in waiting to transform the future marketplace

The two-day Startup Thiruvizha organised by StartupTN at Tamukkam grounds in Madurai throws up a lot of business ideas, though small, when implemented well could shake the market; it was an eye-opener for the visitors, most of whom were management students, young entrepreneurs and established businesspeople 

The Startup Thiruvizha organised by StartupTN at Tamukkam grounds here was abuzz on Sunday on the second and final day with the visitors excitedly learning about one interesting innovative idea after another and the innovators at the stalls hanging on to every word of the visitors.  

While a few of the startups enjoyed familiarity, there were many new ones which were started with the support of both the State and Union governments’ platforms such as EDII-TN, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Startupindia, startupTN. 

While the companies made the most of the opportunity by promoting themselves, it was a revelation for visitors, many of whom were management students, young entrepreneurs and established businesspeople. 

Business incubation stalls served as one-stop centres as aspiring entrepreneurs crowded the stalls with ideas at nascent stage to make them wholesome business plans.  

K.S. Praveen, a B-school student, was eager to know how startup idea was received by strangers and the incubation centres seemed to be the best place to pitch it as they would have heard and tried various ideas.  “It was a good experience as I learned the idea was only half-ready and it needs to be developed before full-blown implementation. Also, I gathered ideas about how and whom to pitch the idea for implementation and investment, once it takes a full shape,” he says.  

It was an eye-opener for a group of food technology students who visited the stall of Prishigo foods and beverages which makes jams and spreads from vegetables and millets.  Its founder and CEO Shinduja Vetriselvan said many food items consumed with relish by children contained preservatives and ingredients harmful to one’s health.  “I hit upon the idea of making fun foods like spreads, jams and milk powder in a different and healthy way. So I brought in millet into our products which is slowly fading out of our food scene,.” she said.  

“Instead of using unhealthy palm oil and white sugar, I used millets, brown sugar and olive oil. We also found a way to increase the shelf life of our products without using preservatives, she said. One of her jams, launched four months back, is made from vegetables and is aimed at children who love fruit-based jams. It is available only online and plans are afoot to bring them to the open market.  

Another such initiative is sachets of instant soups made from greens. G. Sriram Prasad, CEO of Keeraikadai from Coimbatore, said it was developed with support from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to hook people into eating healthy greens by relieving them of the laborious pain of preparing greens.  One can buy instant dips of greens such as adathodai, thoothuvalai, ashwagandha, moringa, amla, etc. Even the dip (pouch) is made of banana plant fibre - eco-friendly and good for health.  

Jumping to the technology arena, Cyberxtron technologies, a year-old company, started by a group of tech graduates, provides digital protection for company data such as employees’ profiles, product details, documents, etc.  I. Santhosh, its co-founder and COO, said they dared to plunge into the world of cyber security dominated by giants. There is scope for digital security in India as many new innovations are cropping every single day,” he said.  

“In the initial stage, Startups focus only on developing the products and building a reputation for them, but they forget to protect the digital information, which is vital in the present times,” he said.  

In developed countries, companies invest in millions and they need to protect their employees’ and company’s data, whereas in a developing nation like India with a price sensitive market, big money is not spent on cyber security.  “But as companies depend mostly on digital services like online selling and transactions, to keep the data intact, digital information must be well-guarded,” he says.  

After educating new companies and startups on the need to protect their data, they take up projects from companies. “Though we are not welcomed at first, by and by they understand the importance of our role in their growth,” he says.  

Another busy spot at the venue was where an interesting innovation was on display wherein Artificial Intelligence was employed for irrigating agricultural fields. Mobitech Wireless Solutions, an irrigation automation company, helps farmers to water the crops using AI.  The Erode-based company helps farmers, who are miles away, know availability of water from their irrigation source at their farm.  “The device gives details of water level, access solar-powered valves to change direction, water pressure, rain recorded at the farm, etc. Though there are such devices in the market, they have limited facilities. But our AI-powered device does not have any limitations,” they said.  

Interestingly, many of the startups with world-class products were based in non-metros like Theni, Thoothukudi, Madurai, Kanniyakumari and Erode.  

Many of these entrepreneurs want the government to give them a jumpstart with marketing support to establish themselves. In such a scenario, more startups will be started when handholding by the government is for sure.

Published - September 29, 2024 10:12 pm IST